Bowman could miss half of 2014 season

It appears the 49ers will open the season without one of their best players for the second straight year.

All-Pro inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman will likely miss a significant part of the 2014 season after he tore his ACL and MCL in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 19, Jim Harbaugh said at the NFL combine in Indianapolis on Thursday.

Harbaugh cautioned that he wouldn’t underestimate Bowman’s ability to recover quickly, but suggested a mid-season return was more probable. Bowman had surgery Feb. 4.

“Halfway through the season, or something like that, would be more realistic,” Harbaugh said via 49ers.com.

If so, Bowman’s timetable could closely mirror that of wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who missed the first 11 games of 2013 with a torn Achilles. Bowman, as Crabtree did, will probably open the season on the physically unable to perform list, meaning he will miss at least six regular-season games.

The 49ers struggled to fill the void left by Crabtree’s absence last year, but they could be better-equipped to put a Band-aid on Bowman’s spot. Inside linebacker Michael Wilhoite is the most logical candidate to step into the role after he filled in capably when Patrick Willis was sidelined for two games with a groin injury in 2013. Wilhoite combined for 20 tackles as the 49ers beat the Rams and Texans by a combined score of 69-14.

Wilhoite could face competition from Nick Moody, a 2013 sixth-round pick who played 10 defensive snaps as a rookie. The 49ers could also address the position in free agency or the draft.

Bowman, a three-time, first-team All-Pro, is coming off the best season of his four-year career. In 2013, he ranked fifth in the NFL in tackles (145) and had career-highs in passes defensed (9), sacks (5), forced fumbles (4) and interceptions (2) for the league’s fifth-ranked defense.

Note: I will not be at the combine this week. The Chronicle’s Raiders beat writer, Vic Tafur, will arrive today and provide 49ers coverage.